


Fever

by setoatem96



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2020-12-14 10:49:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21014555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setoatem96/pseuds/setoatem96
Summary: After Zuko collapses during a showdown with Jet, Sokka figures they all probably owe him one. Zuko, that is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hi it's been a while!! But I'm back!! I've been rewatching Atla recently and have fallen in love with my boys all over again. This is a Sokka X Zuko fic. Enjoy~

"You lied to me." The freedom fighter snapped and drew his weapons pointing them in the direction of the other boy. Zuko held his hands up defensively and slowly backed away from Jet.

"You would have never of accepted me." Zuko avoided the other's intimate gaze as he got closer. "I just wanted you to accept me for me." Jet laughed, the evident hurt in his voice caused Zuko to squeeze his eyes shut and accept the blow that followed. Jet kicked him to the ground, stabbing the earth with his swords, leaving them both the either side of Zuko's head.

"You're a fire bender." Jet stamped on the other boys hand, not grimacing or flinching at the slightest when he heard a loud cracking sound. "And you're not just any fire bender." Jet kicked the boy in the ribs. Zuko neither reacted nor prevented the blow, which only seemed to infuriate the other further. "I thought you and I were the same. I thought we wanted the same things. I trusted you."

"Jet.."

"Don't. I don't want to hear anything from you. You're nothing but fire nation scum to me. You're pathetic." Jet circled the boy laying on the dirt like a vulture would his prey. "Pathetic fire nation prince. What was your plan? Cozy up to me then burn down my people's homes?" Zuko shook his head. "I thought we had this connection l, you know? You and me, two refugees wanting redemption and peace. We would fight side by side."

Jet crouched down. "You bring nothing but pain and destruction everywhere you go, just like the rest of them." Jet swung at Zuko's face, who lay there and just took it. Jet stood back up, removing his swords from the ground and sheathing them. He left Zuko laying there as he began to walk towards the entrance of the forest before him. Zuko scrambled to his feet and gripped the wrist of the other boy. Jet smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me." He warned. Zuko grabbed hold of the other's tunic and pulled him closer, smashing their lips together. Jet stood frozen as his body naturally melted into the familiar sensation of Li kissing him. The kiss was desperate and hopeless, Li was trying to bring their bodies as close together as possible, until their foreheads were touching and Jet could see into Li's golden eyes-

Zuko, not Li. Jet threaded his fingers through Zuko's hair, who sighed with contentment until Jet yanked him down, and his head collided with Jet's knee. Zuko slumped to the ground, gripping his head and groaning. "This changes nothing."

"Jet. I lov-" The last thing Zuko saw was Jet's fist curled up into a tight ball, coming right towards him. Then everything went black around him and he could feel nothing.

\-------

"Sure, sure. Let's make the non bender collect and chop aaaaalll the firewood because we're obviously soooo busy with our magical bending lessons with the avatar that we don't possibly have time to do camp chores!" Sokka mumbled to himself sarcastically and sighed, kicking the gravel beneath him and scuffing his boots as he walked. To be fair, he hadn't collected fire wood for a while, so whilst it was more than likely his turn, he sure wouldnt have minded a little help. Besides, Aang and Katara could easily slice up some kindle with their bending not to mention Toph could probably knock down enough trees to build a bison shed for Appa. He grumbled to himself, shifting the weight of the wood in his arms. He'd been walking for a while now, it was probably a good idea that he started to head back, not to mention he could see a neighbouring earth kingdom village off in the distance that was probably crawling with fire nation soldiers. And it had been raining for a least a few minutes now, wet firewood had not much use in terms of starting a campfire. Yup, live to fight another day, he thought himself. He turned on his heel and began to walk back when a groan startled him, causing him to drop all the wood on the floor. He groaned, bending down to pick up what he'd dropped when a hand grabbed his.

"Aaagh shit what the fuck." He spun around, a limp figure lay on the ground, groaning.

"Please. Help." It was Zuko, Sokka instinctively went to smack his hand away and draw his trusty boomerang, but Zuko was hurt. Badly. And by the looks of things, whilst their camp had managed to avoid the rain, Zuko had been out in it for a while. His non burnt eye was black. His nose was bleeding heavily and one of his hands appeared to be broken. Sokka noticed how hot his skin became upon being touched by the firebender, the guy was burning up pretty bad. Zuko's grip on Sokka released as he collapsed back on the ground again. Sokka began to pick the firewood back up, get up and turn the other way...he looked back at Zuko and groaned. Why did he have to look so helpless and why did Sokka feel so guilty at the thought of leaving him there. Probably because unlike fire nation soldiers he had a conscience. Plus there was that time with Azula...if Zuko hadn't been there Aang definitely would have been toast. Not to mention the fact  
Iroh took the blow instead of any of them.

"Fine!" He bent down to Zuko's level and shook his shoulder. "Hey, you gotta help me help you." Sokka lifted Zuko's arm and slung it around his own shoulders and stood, letting Zuko lean all his weight on the water tribe boy. Zuko limped, but Sokka held on tighter. He sighed as the two trecked back to camp. This was sure going to be interesting.

\--------

Katara recognised the grumbles and the footsteps coming towards the camp. She sighed with relief, Sokka was back. Aang quickly rushed to stand Infront of her.

"Katara stand back." Katara frowned as the boy aimed his staff at her older brother, until she saw what he'd brought back instead of fire wood.

"Guys. Hold up. Hold up."

"Sokka what on earth are you doing?!" Katara raised her voice. Sokka placed Zuko down on the ground and beckoned her to come over to him. Aang put his arm out to stop her.

"Guys. He's hurt. Super bad. Like reeeeally bad. What was I supposed to do just leave him to die?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Maybe?!?"  
Aang looked at Zuko and then to Katara and Toph and back to Zuko and sighed.

"You know for once, Sokka's kind of right. We kinda owe him one."

Katara stood there puzzled. "We do?"

"Crazily enough I would have been at the mercy of Azula if it weren't for him." Aang put his hand on Katara's shoulder to reassure her. She nodded and they walked over and crouched down beside the fire bender. Katara gasped upon seeing the damage.

"Who do you think could of done this? I haven't seen Zuko lose to anyone other than Aang." Aang nodded in agreement, it was strange to see Zuko so roughed up.

"Even without his firebending, Zuko's a pretty good fighter."

Katara placed her hand on Zuko's forehead, she immediately snapped her hand away and hissed. "He's boiling. He must be having a fever."

Zuko exhaled, red steam escaped from his mouth as he did so. Aang, Toph and Sokka scooted backwards.

"He can fire bend in his sleep!?" Sokka exclaimed.

"I don't think that's fire, Sokka." Toph replied, her face looking puzzled.

"Toph's right." Katara agreed and looked closer. "I think that's blood."

"What?!?"

"I think his body temperature is so high his blood is boiling..I mean literally so." Aang crawled back over, looking at Katara who then nodded at him. Katara carefully opened the compartment where she keeps her spare water for bending and began to heal Zuko's wounds. Aang created a continuous breeze of cold wind which caused Zuko's body to convulse. Sokka noticed Zuko's breathing began to slow.

"I think it's working!" Sokka exclaimed and fist bumped the air. "The mysterious power of bending!" Katara sat back on her heels and sighed.

"That's all I can really do for now. I can't put bones back together." Aang nodded and yawned.

"I can't really completely stop fevers either. I think he's just going to have to tough the remainder of it out."

"So what do we do?" Toph asked, stretching and following Aangs suit and yawning herself.

"I say we get some rest. His uncle must be near by, I say we look for him in the morning." Sokka stared at his sister, wide eyed.

"You're going to go sleep with a fire bender that's inches away from you?!?"

"Don't be silly, Sokka. You're going to keep watch!" Katara, Aang and Toph got up and walked towards their bags.

"Oh right. Okay." Sokka stood up. "Wait what?!?! Why do I have to be on fire bender baby sitting duty?"

Katara laughed. "You brought him here." Sokka pouted and watched as Toph created a stone tent that separated him from the others.

"Just a precaution!!" Toph shouted from inside the stone walls. Sokka groaned.

"Finnnneeee. Yet again let the non bender do all the hard work." Sokka sighed and laid back on log beside Zuko's body. He watched the firebender tremble and twitch. Sokka remembered the time he and Katara got sick and Aang had to go off to find some medicine. Atleast they all had each other. But Zuko...Zuko was out there alone.

"Nghh.." Zuko groaned which startled Sokka, causing him to yelp.

"Uh, hi. Uhm.." Sokka replied awkwardly.

"Water."

"Right." Sokka came back with the water he kept in his bag. He handed it to Zuko before looking at the state of his hand. Sokka felt like a bit of an idiot. Of course Zuko wasn't going to be able to take the water from him and drink it himself. Sokka was gonna have to do it for him. He groaned as he reached towards Zuko's head and tilted it upwards and pouring the liquid into Zuko's mouth who gulped it down desperately like he'd been stuck in that weird desert with the funky cacti and freaky library. Once Zuko closed his mouth, Sokka took that as an indication that he was finished.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"Uh, you're welcome." Zuko fell quickly back to sleep after that, evidently exhausted. Sokka began to move his hand away but was stopped by Zuko's non broken hand, that held on to him tightly.


	2. Chapter 2

Zuko grimaced in his sleep, Sokka presumed because of the fever and the pain he was in. He tried to unclasp Zuko's fingers from around his but Zuko's grip only tightened.

"Great. I'm sat alone holding hands with a fire bender. This is just perfect." Sokka tried to get comfortable and inch himself away from the fire bender but it didn't seem possible, Zuko's hold was pretty strong. It got Sokka thinking about how Zuko ended up in this situation in the first place. It couldn't of been his sister, they would have definitely had a visit from her by now. And the other fire nation soldiers didn't stand a chance... So why?

Zuko shifted in his sleep, his grip on Sokka causing the water tribe boy to be yanked closer to him. Sokka groaned, his face buried half in the mud and half against Zuko's back. Zuko's body began to shake quite violently again but he wasn't getting any hotter. The fire bender whimpered.

A nightmare. Zuko was having a nightmare. Sokka was surprised that fire nation even had enough emotions in them to get scared, let alone have dreams about the things theyrye afraid of. But then again, he figured Zuko's probably had a rough life. Probably, he wasn't too sure. Sokka sat up carefully, his fingers still interwined with the fire bender's, and sighed. Zuko whimpered again. Sokka leaned in closely to make out what the other boy was saying but his voice was too raspy and muffled.

"Uh, Zuko?"  
"Don't leave." Zuko murmured. He squeezed Sokka's hand.  
"Oh, uh okay." Sokka settled down, resting his head on his free hand and attempting to get comfortable again. He figured he should try to atleast get some sleep.

\----

Sokka was awoken to the sound of incredibly loud and irritating earth kingdom birds squawking at the top of their lungs. The sun was blinding and he felt an unfamiliar warmth this morning, usually he'd wake up feeling cold from the breeze. He stretched and yawned. He opened his eyes.

"Aaaahhh! What the fuck!!" He looked down at the fire bender snuggled against his chest. Zuko's face grimaced and his own eyes slowly open. Zuko yelled in shock, snapping his hand free from Sokka's and scrambling backwards.

"Ugh! Get off me you peasant!"  
"No, you get off me!!"  
"Don't touch me!!"  
"I think the word you're looking for is sorry!" The boys both glared at each other. Zuko groaned and Sokka stood up and straightened his clothes. He looked around and noticed Aang and the rest of them had gone. He sighed with relief. This was probably a good thing. A confrontation with an incredibly grumpy Zuko is the last thing they all needed right now. Besides, he had appas whistle on him anyways. They'd be able to find each other. Zuko attempted to stand, glaring and yelling profanities at Sokka.

"Where is HE?"  
"I don't know!" Sokka wasn't exactly lying, but he assumed they'd gone off to practise their bending and left the lovely task of returning Zuko to his uncle to him.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know! That's pretty self explanatory. Gosh." Sokka held his head in his hands. This was a nightmare. "You know you could thank me." Zuko looked puzzled.

"Thank you?! You've got some nerve." Zuko moved his arm as if he was going to bend, Sokka got ready to dodge but Zuko's wrist flopped down and he yelled in pain. "Fuck." He attempted to stand, wincing and grabbing hold of his side. He threw Sokka a look.

"Where am I?"  
"The forest just outside of that earth kingdom village."  
"Why are you here?" Sokka scoffed and rolled his eyes.  
"I saved your ass. You'd be dead without me." Sokka walked towards the fire bender and held out his hand. Zuko scowled.

"I don't need your help!" Zuko limped and turned in the direction of the village. He walked two steps before stumbling to the ground with a groan. Sokka approached him again and hoisted Zuko up on his feet. "I said I don't need your help!" Sokka groaned in frustration, Zuko was infuriating.

"Would you stop being so stubborn? I'm just trying to help!"  
"Well, don't!" Zuko snapped back.  
"Oh for fuck sake there's no way you're getting out of here without my help could you just swallow your pride for five fucking minute-"  
"Fine! Help me then!" Zuko bellowed and leaned on Sokka more for support but kept standing on Sokka's feet and stumbling.  
"Hey! You did that on purpose!"  
"I did not!"  
"Ugh!" Sokka held Zuko upright before crouching down on the ground Infront of him. "Get on my back."

Zuko scoffed. "You're joking."  
Sokka rolled his eyes. "Just get on my back. The quicker you're back with your uncle and away from me, the better." Zuko couldn't agree more. He bent his knees and wrapped his arms around Sokka's neck. Sokka stood up slowly, being careful to make sure they don't topple and end up in a heap on the ground. He held on to Zuko's legs tightly and began to walk towards the village.

"You're heavy."  
"Noted."

They'd been walking for about ten minutes in uncomfortable silence as the earth kingdom village drew closer. Sokka cleared his throat.

"So uh, how did ya end up like this anyways?"

"It's none of your business. And why do you care?" 

"I don't. I'm just curious. Was it your sister?" 

"I can hold my own against her thank you."

"An earth bender? Fire nation guards?" 

"Would you please stop talking?!"

\----------

"It's just the tea shop on the left." The door swung open and Zuko's uncle stood there with a half pained half relieved expression on his face upon seeing the state his nephew was in. Iroh welcomed them both inside. Sokka was slightly hesitant but walked inside the shop regardless. Zuko looked around the shop. It was trashed. Zuko tapped Sokka on the shoulder and Sokka slowly set him back down on the ground. Iroh smiled and nodded at Sokka. 

"They were here again." Iroh announced. Zuko's eyes widened. 

"The Dai Li?" Sokka asked, some what curious. 

"No." Iroh handed Zuko a small reed. It had bite mark indentations. Sokka's mouth opened in shock.

"You were attacked by Jet?!?" 


	3. Chapter 3

Sokka sat on the ground of the trashed tea shop and listened to the older fire bender explain their circumstances over the past few months. It explained why they hadn't had any run ins with Zuko for a while. He'd been in hiding here this whole time.

"So then Jet found you guys were fire nation?" Zuko nodded, not meeting his gaze. Iroh poured Sokka some more tea.

"Thank you for saving my nephew."  
"Thank you for taking the hit instead of us."  
"Take your time here. It's not much. But you are most welcome here Sokka from the water tribe." Zuko glared at his uncle.

"He is not."

\----  
Sokka helped Zuko to his room and set him down on his futon. Zuko let out a long sigh of relief.

"Much better than laying on the ground huh." Zuko nodded, stretching out his legs.

"I have something to ask of you. A deal if you're interested."

Sokka cocked his eyebrow up at the firebender. What could Zuko possibly want?

"Look out for my uncle. I can't fight them off in the condition I'm in. If Jet finds out I'm alive.." Zuko's face made a pained expression, his hand crept up to his chest and grabbed at the skin there. The skin over his heart. Zuko cleared his throat. "Look out for him and I won't come after you during your stay here." Sokka wasn't quite convinced. Zuko rolled his eyes. "Right. Because I'm totally able to run after you guys right now." Sokka sighed. Zuko was right. He could barely walk. Let alone chase them across the earth kingdom cities.

"Fine. But isn't your uncle a great firebender? I'm sure he's pretty capab-"

"We haven't been firebending here. We refuse to. That's why I refused to..."

"You refused to fight Jet?" Sokka questioned.

Zuko nodded. "Yeah. I wasn't going to ruin the life uncle had built here over a stupid fight."

Sokka's eyes widened in disbelief. "Zuko...he tried to kill you."

"He's not the first. Won't be the last."

Sokka awkwardly cleared his throat. "Yeah, right. Sorry. This is awkward." Sokka sat down beside Zuko, crossing his legs over the other, his hand resting on his chin. "How did you end up being friends with Jet anyways, he's a jerk, more of a jerk than you and you're like the king of jerks and the jerk benders-"

Zuko did something Sokka didn't think he'd ever seen before. Zuko laughed. _He's delirious_, Sokka thought. He's sick and the fever has made him delirious. And Sokka himself was obviously tired, tired and not thinking straight, right, yeah, that's why he was sat just inches away from the fire nation prince and having a normal conversation. Sokka picked up his tea he'd brought in the room before carrying in Zuko and resumed drinking it.

  
"We were lovers." Zuko admitted. Sokka choked on his tea, spitting it all over himself, causing Zuko to laugh again.

"Yeah, nice one, hilarious." Zuko was expressionless. "You're...serious?!" Sokka sat there with his mouth wide open, tea dripping down his chin. "But you..mai..katara...jet. oh god. Now I'm just confused. Covered in tea and confused." Zuko laughed once more, causing Sokka to turn bright red.

"I'm serious. But stop making me laugh. It hurts."

\------

After that, Sokka found himself visiting the little earth kingdom tea shop on a daily basis. After explaining Zuko's proposition to the Gaang, they all agreed it was in their best interests for Sokka to comply and keep an eye on the two firebenders whilst Aang, Katara and Toph were off somewhere bending. What was confusing is that Sokka was actually starting to enjoy his trip to the tea shop. The tea was good and the company, par Zuko unless on special occasions, wasn't too bad. Sokka was sure he'd find a nice earth kingdom girl he could chat to soon enough...despite his advances failing every single time causing Zuko to have this smug look on his face majority of the time. But Sokka was actually enjoying himself. 

"You know, if you keep using the same pick up line on every girl that comes in here it's bound to come around on you." Zuko remarked as he polished a tea set from across the room. Sokka scoffed.

"What would you know about about pick up lines that work on girls? Jerk fucker."

"Jerk fucker?"

"Yeah. You fuck jerks." 

Zuko snorted. "For the record we didn't actually-" Sokka put his fingers in his ears.

"Lalala, don't want to hear it. Also stop doing that." Zuko frowned and turned around.

"Stop doing what? Cleaning?"

"No laughing. It's weird. You're the big brooding angsty fire nation prince. It's weird when you smile." 

"Oh. Right. I see." Zuko turned and walked away into the kitchen. Sokka didn't hear from him for the rest of the day. 

\------

The next day Zuko was pretty much silent, other than giving one word responses to his uncle and apologizing about how he couldn't be of much help right now. And for some reason this irritated Sokka. Maybe he was bored. And arguing with Zuko was some what entertaining. He slouched across the counter. Zuko shot him a puzzled look before turning back to stacking plates the best he could with his one hand. 

"So did you kiss?" Zuko nearly dropped the plates. 

"What?!?" Zuko was bright red.

Sokka wiggled his eyebrows. "You know, you and Jet. Did ya guys kiss? Was it weird kissing a jerk? Although, you're a jerk too so it's probably just like two normal people kissing-"

"Sokka. Shut up." Zuko turned to carry the plates back to the kitchen but stumbled, Sokka quickly reacted, catching both the fire nation prince and the crockery. Sokka took the plates from Zuko, who only moaned about how he was perfectly capable of handling things himself. 


	4. Chapter 4

Zuko ducked behind the counter. Sokka looked at him confused before Jet came crashing through the window. Jet stomped over towards Iroh. Sokka's hand hovered over his boomerang.

"Where are you hiding him?!" Jet got closer but Iroh did not back down, he simply smiled. "The people living here still say there's two men working in this shop...So I'm guessing he's alive. Where is he?!?" Jet slammed his fist against the wall. Sokka's eyes travelled down to where Zuko was crouched. He noticed the pain in Zuko's facial expression. Sokka stepped out from the kitchen into Jet's view.

"Actually it's me. I work here now." He raised his hands up defensively.  
"We kinda owe Iroh from a while back, so I said I'd help him with the shop whilst we're in town... Zuko's off doing whatever it is he's doing, probably trying to find us."

"Sokka?!?"

"Long time no see, Jet." Jet frowned, crossing his arms Infront of each other.

"Not that we massively trust each other but I guess I can take your word for it considering we have a common enemy." Sokka nodded. Jet turned for the door. "But if you hear anything. Come find me. If he's alive I'm going to change that. Send my regards to your sister and the Avatar."

And with that, Jet was gone. Iroh and Sokka let out a huge sigh of relief. Zuko stood up, walked in to his room and slammed the door behind him. Sokka felt that.

  
\------

Sokka slowly crept towards Zuko's door and opened it, ignoring Iroh's advice to let him cool off for a bit and head back to the others.

"Zuko?"  
"Get out." Zuko mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. He was sat in the corner of the room facing the wall, his lead leaning against the stone. His knees were tightly held against his chest and under his chin. He looked almost childlike. For some reason this bothered Sokka. He almost felt sorry for the fire bender. If you had told Sokka a few months ago that he would be stood looking at a vulnerable looking Zuko feeling sorry for the guy he would have never believed it. But here he was. Sokka hesitantly walked towards Zuko.

"Leave. Please." Zuko's voice cracked, Sokka could only assume that he'd been crying. Sokka sat opposite the fire nation prince.

"You okay?" It was a dumb question, Sokka knew that. But he figured Zuko probably atleast needed someone to ask him.

"No.." Zuko admitted, refusing to look at the water tribe boy. Zuko cleared his throat. "Thanks for covering for me." Sokka hummed in response. The two boys sat in silence until Zuko started to cry again.

Sokka wasn't good with emotions, he couldn't barely manage his own, let alone other peoples, let alone prince Zuko of the fire nation crying Infront of him. He awkwardly placed his hand on the fire bender's shoulder, who stiffened at first but eventually relaxed into his touch.

"You know, uh. I cried alot when I lost Yue. I didn't show it to the others because you know, a leader has to be tough. But I still cried."

"It's different." Zuko mumbled.

"Yeah, uh, Yue didn't try to kill me but I was still sad when she was gone, uh... Sorry I'm really bad at this sort of thing." Zuko looked up at Sokka and smiled.

"Thanks."

Sokka blushed and coughed awkwardly. "It's cool."

"He's the second person I've loved that's wanted me dead."

Sokka was way out of his depths here. Zuko buried his face into knees and began to fully sob. Sokka felt horrible, horrible and useless. Maybe he really misunderstood the guy. Maybe...

Sokka instinctively put his arm around the fire bender as he would to comfort Katara or Toph. He wasn't expecting Zuko to relax into the touch without hesitation and bury his face in the crook of Sokka's neck. His hand gripped at Sokka's shirt as he cried. Sokka swallowed.

He wasn't quite sure how much time had passed but Zuko had eventually cried himself to exhaustion and fallen asleep. Sokka attempted to shuffle backwards and deposit the firebender onto his bed. Zuko groaned upon hitting the soft mattress. Sokka attempted to stand up.

That was the second time Zuko asked Sokka not to leave him. Sokka laid there on the futon with Zuko draped across his chest, humming peacefully in his sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God writing this jet and zuko angst is honestly killing me, my boyssss. TW this chapter for attempted rape/non con! 
> 
> Also Sokka and the gang are all in earth kingdom disguises!

Zuko's wounds were almost entirely healed within a few weeks. It was almost as if he hadn't been beaten and left for dead. Only a few scars and an aching wrist remained, but it was nothing Zuko evidently couldn't handle. The boy was a fighter, Sokka thought. He watched as Zuko gently heated a teapot with his bending, a small smile spread across his face. Sokka thought Zuko must feel relieved at being able to bend just a little bit again. For some reason Sokka felt relieved that Zuko felt relieved. It was a weird feeling. He needed to snap out of it. Sokka slapped his face with both his hands. Zuko cocked an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Waking myself up."

"Sokka it's 3 in the afternoon."

"Right. You must be happy you can bend again."

Zuko hummed in response, turning his attention back to the teapot. "It's nice." Zuko admitted. Sokka smiled. Zuko looked relatively at peace for the first time in weeks. "I'll be back to myself in no time."

Sokka laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. That's what worries me."

\----

Sokka approached the tea shop as he usually would do in the morning. He'd had some errands to run with Toph this morning and informed Iroh that he'd be there later that afternoon/evening. He thought to himself how this may be one of the last times he had to come to the tea shop considering Zuko's condition was improving dramatically. The thought alone made Sokka feel overwhelming sadness. When he reached the little tea shop, Iroh informed Sokka that Zuko was out and he'd be back later, and to help himself and make himself at home. Sokka smiled kindly at the gesture and walked sheepishly towards Zuko's room. It was odd not seeing Zuko sad on the futon meditating or sharpening his dual swords. The room felt strangely empty. Sokka flopped himself down on Zuko's bed and sighed, wriggling around to get comfortable. He flipped the pillow over to the colder side and something scraped against his skin. Sokka hissed and picked up the scrap of paper. He straightened it out and read the contents.

_Zuko_.

\-----

Jet leant confidently against a tree, smirking as the fire bender approached him from out of view.

  
"So you actually came."

"What do you want?" Zuko asked.

"Other than you dead, not much."

"You really hate me that much?"

"You. Your family. Your people. Everything you stand for- Yes, I do." Jet spat on the ground Infront of Zuko, walking closer to the firebender. "I knew you survived. And I knew the idiot water tribe boy was covering for you."

Zuko cursed under his breath. Jet smirked, unsheathing his blades.

"So what'll it be? Will you actually fight back this time?" Jet taunted, sauntering even close. Zuko abruptly stepped back.

"I don't want to fight you, Jet."

Jet rolled his eyes and gagged. "You can stop the act now. Now that I know who you are. Fight me. Go on, burn me to the ground like you burnt down all those, homes, all those people, all those villages, all those forests."

Zuko took another step back. "Jet please don't do this. We don't have to do this." Jet laughed, mockingly.

"Burn me down like your father burnt you."

Zuko erupted into a fiery fury, screaming out in pain, not physical, but emotional. The one person he thought understood the pain of his past was now using it against him. He sank to the ground. Defeated, hopeless, without even having fought. He could hear Jet laughing and coming closer. A rough hand gripped his shoulder.

"All that taunting and you still won't fight back? This isn't even fun anymore."

"I won't fight you." He muttered, looking the freedom fighter dead in the eyes. "I will not fire bend against you." Jet scowled. He pressed the blade against the soft pale skin of Zuko's throat. Zuko remained unwavered.

"You're stubborn. I used to like that about you." Zuko's eyes widened as Jet began unbuckling his trousers and forced himself inside the fire bender's mouth. One hand holding his blade steady against Zuko's neck, the other entangled his fingers in the other boys ebony hair, holding him roughly, gripping tight enough to remove hair from the scalp and leave finger nail indentations. Zuko struggled and protested but Jet pressed the blade harder against his skin.

"If you struggle, I really will kill you this time." Jet laughed, forcibly thrusting himself in and out of Zuko's mouth, pushing the fire bender down roughly onto his cock, making him gag and splutter. "Don't take your eyes off me. I want you to remember how it feels to have someone walk all over you." Zuko could hardly breathe, his eyes began to water and his nostrils flared desperately to take in as much air as he could. The sound of Jet laughing shattered through his eardrums.   
"Still not going to fire bend yourself to safety?"

A voice came from the other side of the forest.

"He doesn't have to." It was Sokka. Zuko as much as he would later hate to admit it, practically beamed. Jet was about to adopt his usual cocky remarks when he discovered Sokka was not standing there alone. He froze in disbelief.

It was the Dai Li.

"You didn't."

"I did." Sokka boasted. Jet pushed Zuko back down to the ground, readjusted himself, and ran for it. The Dai Li followed suit, chasing him off into the depths of the forest. Sokka ran over to Zuko, who was violently vomiting on his hands and knees. Sokka patted his back awkwardly, but soothingly none the less.

"It's okay man. Get it all out."


	6. Chapter 6

The two boys crept back into the tea shop, being careful not to wake the snoring elder residing there. As they entered Zuko's room, Sokka let out a sigh of relief. 

"Don't tell uncle. About any of this." 

Sokka nodded, sympathising with the fire bender somewhat. He too hated being pitied. Zuko flopped down onto the bed, leaving Sokka standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, fumbling about in his pockets. "Thank you, again." Sokka cheeks were flushed, his face became incredibly hot, he wondered if maybe he was coming down with a fever this time. Zuko smiled at him, which made things ten times worse. He was probably as red as a fire nation army uniform.

"You didn't have to do that." 

Sokka shrugged. "I don't think I could have sat back and done nothing." 

"Why? I'm your enemy. You didn't have to do anything." 

"Well yeah, I didn't, but you know." Zuko frowned.

"I don't know, Sokka. I don't know why you continue to come around here, there's no point in it anymore. It'll just cause trouble." That hurt. Sokka felt an indescribable pain in his chest. He'd never experienced anything like it before. "You continue to associate yourself with me. I just don't understand it." 

Sokka shrugged again, walking forwards and sitting down awkwardly at the end of Zuko's bed. 

"I don't understand why either. But I think.."

"You think?" 

"I think it's because I want to." 

Zuko flushed bright red this time, Sokka could physically see the heat rising off the fire bender's face. 

"I think I actually might enjoy being around you. God that sounds even weirder saying it out loud." Embarrassed, Sokka buried his face in his hands. Zuko laughed softly and scooted closer to the water tribe boy. Zuko took Sokka's hands in his own, prying them from the tanned boys face. 

"Even though it's me?" Zuko questioned.

"Yeah even though it's you. This is weird." Zuko nodded in agreement, blushing and retracting his hands upon realising he'd been holding onto Sokka's for a little bit too long. 

"Me too." Sokka's eyes widened.

"Huh?" 

"I think I enjoy having you around." Zuko admitted. "When I heard your voice in the forest..I was overjoyed." 

Sokka cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner." 

"Don't be. I'm thankful you showed up at all." 

Sokka sighed, his gaze falling to his own lap. He twiddled with his fingers awkwardly. 

"Did... Did he really? I couldn't see much, I was too far away..did he.." 

Zuko lowered his head. Sokka assumed his silence meant yes. Sokka felt disgusted, angry, it was a type of anger he'd never felt before.

_Jealousy? It couldn't be..._

Without thinking about it first, Sokka wrapped his arms around the fire bender's bony frame and squeezed him tightly. Zuko looked puzzled. Sokka was hugging him, and hugging him tightly, like his life depended on it, Zuko could barely breathe. 

"Zuko, I'm really sorry." This was probably the first time in a while Sokka had called Zuko by his name, not jerk bender, jerk fucker, or any other variation of the sort. But his name. Sokka released his grip on Zuko and sat back on his heels and sighed. He was about to open his mouth to say something, Zuko was faster than him. Zuko's hands gripped the water tribes boy's face and crashed their lips together.

Zuko was kissing him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confused bisexual boys are confused

Zuko quickly pushed Sokka away from him. He looked mortified.

"Hey, if any one should be making that face it's me!" 

"Why did I do that?!?" Sokka stared at the firebender, his mouth hanging wide open. 

"You're asking me?!" Sokka groaned and buried his head in his hands. There has to be a logical explanation for this. A simple, non complicated explanation. Zuko was emotional, Sokka thought. He'd had a traumatic breakup and was evidently shaken badly by it. That's it. Zuko was emotional and confused. Very confused. Maybe he thought Sokka looked like Jet in that moment...kinda, although the two looked nothing alike. Zuko just wasn't thinking clearly. That's all this was.

"I'm just confused, right?" Zuko pried Sokka's hands from his face and shot the water tribe boy a concerned look, one that screamed for validation and reassurance. Sokka sighed, placing his hand gently on the fire bender's shoulder. 

"Ofcourse you're confused. Anyone would be after what you've just been through." Sokka tried to reassure the other boy, but Zuko's face only turned redder. A deep shade of crimson flush across his cheeks. Sokka cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. 

"Your emotions are probably all over the place, so maybe that's why..." Sokka trailed off. Zuko went silent. The silence became unbearably awkward. Sokka had to say something and break the tension. "Don't worry about it man. It's no worries. Didn't bother me...cause you know, I'm straight and all tha-" 

Then Zuko's lips were back on his again. His hands travelled up to rest at the crook of Sokka's neck, one of Zuko's thumbs rubbed along Sokka's defined jawline. Zuko hummed against the water tribe boys mouth. It was Sokka that pushed the two apart this time. 

"Okay, what is happening here?!"

"I don't know!" Zuko snapped. "Fuck, Sozin, fuck fuck." Zuko cursed, smacking both sides of his cheeks with his hands. "I hate you!"

"What did I do?!?"

"I want to do it again!" 

"And that's MY fault?!" 

Zuko scooted backwards across the bed, warning the other boy not to come any closer. Sokka rolled his eyes. 

"So, you're really gay then?" Sokka pried.

"I don't know!" 

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know!" Zuko repeated. Sokka groaned. This was getting ridiculous now. Zuko slumped down on the bed, his head hitting the pillow and his forearms hiding his face from the water tribe boy. "This is infuriating." You got that right, Sokka thought. Sokka scooted closer and gently tapped the other boys thigh to comfort him. It didn't work in Sokka's favour, however. Zuko only yelped and moved his leg away from him as quickly as he could. 

"Surely you must have some idea! You must have known with Jet, and uh, did some things so that, uh-"

"We didn't. We only kissed a few times before the night he attacked me." Sokka felt guilty instantly. 

"Oh, uh. Sorry." 

"I hate this. Why you?!" 

Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "Well I am dangerously handsome." Sokka winced as the pillow came into contact with his face. Okay, yeah, he probably deserved that one. 

"Hey.." Sokka began. Zuko propped himself up on his elbows to meet the others gaze. "It's okay if you are though, gay, I mean."

"Would you please just shut up for five minutes!" Zuko rolled his eyes and then furrowed his eyebrows. He looked deep in thought. 

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to think about something else!"

"Other than what?"

"Stop talking!" 

"I'm only trying to help here!" Sokka whined defensively. He pouted but the fire bender took no notice. 

"Azula, father, weird nomad guys, uncle stepping out of the hot spring-" Zuko muttered under his breath, causing Sokka to burst into laughter.

"Oh man. This is too much." He clutched his sides. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to not think about how much I want to kiss a stupid water tribe peasant!" 

Sokka blushed. Oh, right. Zuko blushed. Sokka sat back on his heels.

"Right. Yeah, sorry." Zuko groaned as Sokka cleared his throat. "Do you want me to leave?" He asked the firebender.

"No!" Zuko protested.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Zuko sat upright. 

"Kiss me."

"Excuse me?!"

"Kiss me. Like properly. Maybe it'll help.."

"Help you figure out if you're into men?" 

"Maybe. I don't know. You're the second person I've kissed." 

Sokka's eyes widened. "Like, ever? In your whole life, ever?"

Zuko crossed his arms against his chest, frowning. "Some of us have better things to do than exchange mouth related bacteria."

Sokka snorted. Like chase across us the globe, he thought. Zuko shifted uncomfortably. Sokka could tell he was being serious. 

"If you're so comfortable with your sexuality it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Zuko was taunting him, he had to be. "You can just picture some earth kingdom girl." Sokka huffed. There was no way he was going to let Zuko question and poke fun at his masculinity. Not a chance. 

"Fine." Sokka spoke. "I'll do it."

\-------

Zuko sat uncomfortably still on the bed as Sokka crawled up to sit beside him. And he appeared so cocky and arrogant before. But Zuko looked nervous, genuinely nervous. Sokka placed his hand over the firebenders to sooth him. Zuko's eyes fluttered shut. Sokka followed suit, closing his eyes and moving his face closer to the other's, their noses bumped and lips brushed against one another which caused Zuko to exhale a shaky breath. 

_Right. Earth kingdom girl, earth kingdom girl. Think pretty hot, earth kingdom girl. Or Suki, Suki was attractive, even with all that face paint on. Yup, okay. Think Suki, Suki, suki- _

Their lips moved against each other. Zuko smelt like burnt parchment, but his lips were soft and he tasted like a combination of sickly spices, cinnamon, perhaps? Sokka wasn't too sure. But he tasted surprisingly sweet, and his lips weren't as rough as he had expected them to be, Sokka hadn't really paid much attention the first two times Zuko brought their lips together, there was too much shock. Instinctively, Sokka's hand ran up Zuko's neck and nested in the boy's ebony coloured hair. Zuko trembled, his lips parting slightly. Sokka pulled back ever so slightly, opening his eyes to find dilated golden ones staring back into his own.

"Don't stop."


	8. Chapter 8

This was bad. This was dangerous. So dangerous and Sokka was so doomed. So done for. This was so wrong. So wrong. So why did he feel so good? 

He was kissing Prince Zuko, and what's more, he was enjoying it. Zuko's lips pushed back against Sokka's own needily. Zuko's arms were wrapped around Sokka's neck tightly, Sokka's own hands resting upon Zuko's hips. 

Sokka internally groaned. _He was straight. He liked girls. He liked kissing girls, he liked fucking girls. So why did kissing Zuko feel like this? _

"This is wrong. I shouldn't have said anything, we shouldn't-" Zuko murmured against the water tribe boys mouth. 

"I know." Sokka agreed. But neither of them attempted to stop. Sokka's tongue forced it's way inside Zuko's mouth, causing the fire bender groan. Sokka's hands rubbed up and down Zuko's sides. Zuko shuddered against the touch. 

Both boys put their hands on the others shoulders, pushing themselves apart. They stared at each other, breathing heavily, their faces flush and their eyes hungry. 

"I...do you... we-" whatever Sokka was trying to say, Zuko sympathised with. This was not the reaction either of them had expected. Zuko was confused about alot of things, but the desire to kiss Sokka, and how good it felt to do so, was not one of them. That was obvious now. Sokka felt hot all over, a sort of heat he wasn't familiar with. Embarrassed, aroused...Sokka couldn't tell the difference. He just felt hot, and there was this huge ache in the pit of his stomach, resembling that of hunger. 

"But I like girls." Sokka blurted out, unintentionally. Zuko laughed breathlessly, resting his forehead against the water tribe boy's own. His heart was pounding. He could feel the blood pumping in his eardrums. He felt dizzy, hazy. 

"Why me? Why you?"

"I don't know." Zuko admitted, entwining his fingers with Sokka's. "But that felt..."

"Yeah." Sokka agreed. 

"I'm not sure if I like guys.." Zuko began. Sokka shot him a puzzled look. "I think I just like you." Sokka went bright red. Zuko laughed again. 

"This is insane." 

Zuko hummed in agreement. "Very much so. Considering a few months back I would have gladly pushed you off a bridge in a heart beat." Sokka scoffed. 

"You have such a way with words, you know that?" 

"So I've been told."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Oh."

Sokka pinched the skin between his eyebrows. This would change everything. Everything. They were supposed to be enemies. They weren't even supposed to get this close. To even consider each other as human beings, they'd been nothing more than a jerk prince and a water tribe peasant to each other the whole time they'd known each other. To say they had misjudged each other would be an understatement. They didn't just put up with each other and tolerate another, they'd gotten close, they enjoyed each others company and felt joy at the others presence. This was bad, Sokka thought. They'd fucked up big time. It was not supposed to turn out this way. Zuko was supposed to recover and the Gaang would be on their way, the opposing sides would be back at each others throats in no time, back to normal. The fire bender and the water tribe boy shouldn't have gotten along. It shouldn't have turned out this way.

But it had. And Zuko was kissing Sokka again. Slower this time, as if he was savouring the taste of the other boy. Sokka's arms found themselves wrapping tightly around Zuko's waist, pulling the fire bender into his lap. Zuko nibbled Sokka's bottom lip every slow slightly, Sokka without thinking much first, gripped the fabric covering Zuko's back, hard, pulling the other boys body closer to his. Sokka wondered if he felt as hot as Zuko's body felt to him. It was as if the pair were on fire, which given Zuko's circumstances wouldn't be that unlikely. 

Zuko pulled away and buried his face in the crook of Sokka's neck. "I'm crazy." He murmured against the warm soft skin there. "I'm definitely going crazy." 

_You and me both_, Sokka thought. 

Sokka shifted slightly which caused the entirety of Zuko's weight to press down on him. Sokka lost balance, tumbling backwards, pulling Zuko down with him and his head hitting the mattress with a groan. Sokka attempted to prop himself up on his elbows to detangle his limbs from the firebenders, he bent his knee suddenly, causing Zuko to hiss in pain when it made unfortunate contact with his groin. Sokka cringed. 

"Oh god. I'm sorry." Sokka could feel the heat radiating off of Zuko's face onto his own neck and shoulder. Zuko tried to push himself up this time, he propped himself up with his hands. Sokka wriggled his legs from under the fire bender, trying to free himself from their awkward position but only kicked Zuko by accident again. Sokka had assumed he'd hit one of Zuko's bony knees in the process. He looked up at Zuko who looked horrified. It was not Zuko's knee. 

Zuko was hard. Sokka began to open his mouth to speak, Zuko beat him to it.

"Not a fucking word." 

"Uh, it's okay, kinda a normal reactio-"

"I will literally blast your head off, position it on a stick and parade around Ba Sing Se with it if you continue." Sokka raised his palms in defeat. Zuko was so unbelievably hot and cold, it was hard to tell if he was going to appear vulnerable or on the defense every time he spoke. 

"I can't keep up with you sometimes. I know you're the moody fire nation prince, but seriously." 

"What?!" Zuko snapped back.

"Like, one minute you're letting me in and showing me this unseen side of you, and the next you're threatening to impale my severed head with a stick. Can't keep up!" 

Zuko pouted, Sokka hated to admit that it looked cute on him. 

"Sorry that my damaged childhood has had an effect on my ability to self regulate my own emotions." Zuko went to sit up, to get off of the water tribe boy, but Sokka found himself grabbing the fire bender's wrist and stopping him. 

"Zuko, we should probably talk about this." Sokka reasoned. 

"Talking about it will make everything more complicated."

"It's already complicated. We kissed and we both enjoyed it. Obviously you enjoyed it a tad more than I did cause-"

"A parade through Ba Sing Se does sound lovely this time of year." 

"Yeah, yeah. My head on a stick, I get it. But what now?"

Zuko frowned. "You mean, you're expecting something to happen next?" 

"Well yeah, that's kinda what happens when you tell a guy you like him."

Zuko went bright red. "You mean you're wanting something to happen?" 

"Well, uh. Yeah. I guess so, I don't really wanna just pretend it didn't happen if that's what you mean." 

Zuko sighed and laid back down, sprawling himself across the water tribe boy's chest. His slender fingers fiddled with the hem of the fabric of Sokka's shirt. Sokka could feel Zuko's heavy breathing. 

"You smell like the sea."

"What?"

"I never really noticed it before." 

"Oh." Sokka blushed. Silence fell between the two of them. 

"I like you." Zuko said. "Sokka, I like you."


	9. Chapter 9

Sokka lay there with Zuko snuggled against his chest, snoring every so slightly. It was no surprise he'd fallen so quick, he was clearly emotionally exhausted but Sokka wished it hadn't of happened before the two of them talked about what was going to happen now. Zuko had said that he liked Sokka. And they kissed, and it was a bloody great kiss, Zuko was probably the best kisser Sokka had encountered, despite Zuko's obvious lack of experience. _Zuko was passionate._ He was complicated and mysterious, Sokka had found joy in watching the guys cold, stoic, narcissistic exterior unravel each moment they spent together. He'd quickly realized that Zuko wasn't just some crazed pyromaniac on a egotistical suicide mission. Zuko just wanted to be accepted. _Zuko just wanted to be loved. _And maybe that's where Jet came in. Maybe Jet was so important to Zuko because he was the only chance Zuko had to be himself, to not have to hide behind his Prince of the Fire Nation persona- he could just be Zuko. Zuko without judgement or immediate hatred towards the guy. Sokka's heart ached for him. He couldn't possibly imagine what it felt like having the one you loved hate you for something that was out of your control. Zuko was not his father. He was aggressive, hot headed and overly dramatic, but he was not a murderer. He was determined, determined to do whatever it took to gain that lost love back. 

  
Sokka's fingers ghosted along Zuko's back, he felt the bumps of Zuko's spine and trailed his fingers along them, sighing. Zuko was fragile. Sokka tried to put himself in the fire bender's shoes but he just couldn't, he couldn't even hypothetically think about his own father hurting him, let alone him physically and mentally scarring him for life, it was just out of the question. Sokka tried not to think about a young Zuko on his knees pleading for his father's acceptance and forgiveness. It made him seethe with rage.   
Sokka couldn't sleep, not that he wasn't tired, and that the fire bender's body warmth made him anything other than incredibly relaxed and cosy, he just couldn't stop thinking, thinking about everything.

  
"Zuko..." He mumbled to himself, not expecting the fire bender to stir, scoot up his body and bury his face in the crook of Sokka's neck. One of Zuko's arm lay still against Sokka's side, whilst the other was draped across Sokka's abdomen. Zuko's body twitched. "Zuko." Sokka repeated, enjoying the way his name sounded coming from his own mouth. It was refreshing to say his name in a tone other than him yelling and groaning and trying to get away from the bender as quickly as possible for the Gaang's safety. "Zuko..." Sokka whispered, calling the other boys name for the last time before he drifted off to sleep.  
\-----  
Sokka awoke to a pleasant warmth that submerged his entire body. A hot breath brushed against his nose. He slowly opened his eyes to a soundly sleeping Zuko, with a peaceful face and disheveled hair. Sokka without thinking much first, pushed the hair out of the fire bender's face. Sokka had never thought about it before, and god forbid if he had, but Zuko was actually pretty. He cringed at the word, but it was true, Zuko was undeniably attractive. Well, not in the conventional perfect, handsome, no flaws present sort of way, but Zuko was attractive to Sokka because he was, well, flawed. Sokka's calloused fingers traced the outline of Zuko's scar, as horrible as it probably sounded, Sokka thought it looked kind of beautiful, and not just in a "_I've gone through something traumatic and I'm fighting to overcome it"_ sort of way, but the scar reminded him of a small candle flame, the shape atleast. The skin was tight, but to Sokka's surprise wasn't rough to touch, the skin was smooth, and evidently sensitive because Zuko's eyes fluttered open. 

  
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." 

  
Zuko hummed and relaxed into Sokka's touch, bringing his hand up and placing it over Sokka's and half smiling. 

"Good morning, Water tribe."

_But I'm straight,_ Sokka thought to himself. _There's no way I find another guy attractive, there's no way..._

Zuko leant forward and closed the gap between the boys, their lips slightly brushing against each other as Zuko's hand travelled up Sokka's neck, face, stopping to tickle the stubble of the boys shaven head. His fingers massaged the skin there before trailing back down to Sokka's neck, Zuko's thumb rested against Sokka's chin. Sokka gulped, Zuko's eyes were staring so intensely into his own as if he could see everything Sokka was thinking. Zuko's eyes were something else, they were ethereal, they couldn't possibly belong to a human being. They were like metal at the point of boiling, golden and blinding. Zuko's scarred eye glistened the most. 

"Your eyes." Zuko began. "They remind me of the pond back home, I used to feed the turtle ducks there with my Mother. Azula would always throw rocks at them, she was crazy even back then." _Zuko had just said Sokka reminded him of home, did Sokka feel like home to him?_

"Oh, I, uh..." Sokka responded, evidently flustered.

"Sorry, that was a weird thing to say, wasn't it?" Zuko looked sad.

"No!" Sokka protested, causing Zuko to widen his eyes, slightly startled buy the other boys outburst. "No no no, it's not weird at all, it's just that-"

"It reminded you that I am who I am l. That I'm fire nation." 

"No, well now it has. But that's not what the problem is." Zuko cocked an eyebrow and Sokka groaned, breaking eye contact with the other boy and moving away from his touch.

"I guess I just don't want to admit I'm attracted to you. Not just cause you're the fire nation prince or whatever, even though that's kinda a big deal, it's just that i-"

"Never thought you'd be in a position that compromised your masculinity and pride?" 

Zuko got it. Nail on the head. Zuko knew exactly what Sokka was thinking. He was nervous and conflicted at the fact he found Zuko attractive because he was another guy, not just cause he was fire nation. Sokka let out a long sigh. 

"I'm just not sure how I'm meant to feel about all of this right now. One minute I'm throwing my best one liners at every earth kingdom girl and now I'm completely flustered over a guy!" 

Zuko felt guilty, his own actions had caused Sokka to stress and rethink his outlook on alot of things. 

"I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to kiss you in the first place. I guess I was just angry and hurt and in that moment you kind of looked like my saviour." 

_Saviour_.

"I'm your saviour?!" Sokka choked, he half expected Zuko to roll his eyes and make some sarcastic comment but the fire bender looked hurt. 

"I really was about to let him kill me. It's like I just didn't care and I thought nobody else would either. In that moment I thought I'd rather be dead than have him hate me that much." 

Sokka gripped the fire bender's shoulder roughly. "Don't say shit like that." He pulled the fire bender's slender frame against his own, tucking Zuko's head under his chin and gripped the back of Zuko's shirt. "I would care." Zuko mumbled something incoherently against the water tribe boy's chest and shook his head slowly. Sokka's hands found themselves circling Zuko's back, instinctively comforting the other boy. Sokka sighed. 

"Zuko. I care." 

Zuko groaned. "are all water tribe men this embarrassing?" Sokka laughed, it made Zuko's body tremble and filled him with warmth. 

"Nah, that's a Sokka speciality."


	10. Chapter 10

  
Sokka came to the conclusion that fire nation culture and customs was far more different than he could possibly imagine. He sat half upright on Zuko's bed, mouth practically hitting the floor when Zuko got up to start undressing without uttering a single word. Sokka went bright red.

"Woah, woah, woah. What are you doing?!!". He stuttered in shock, quickly covering his eyes in a panic. "Did we not just have the conversation clearly stating that I'm very confused about whether either of us are gay and now you're just taking your clothes off? Listen, listen, we should probably slow down uh I don't think-"

  
Zuko looked confused. "Sokka, what are you talking about? I'm going to take a bath."

"Well maybe next time announce that you're getting naked before doing it!"

"Well, why should I?" Zuko folded his arms across his chest, well, not that Sokka would have been able to see the look on his face anyways, but the fire bender's eyes widened.

"Uh, I don't know?! Maybe so the world doesn't see you naked?!"

"Why does that matter? You're weird." Zuko threw a towel over his shoulder and slid the panel door that led outside open. 

"I'm weird?!! I'm not the one parading around naked!" 

"Sokka, it's really not that big of a deal. I did this alot at home."

Sokka's jaw really hit the floor this time as he scrambled his way out of bed to follow the fire bender, still half shielding his now not so innocent eyes. Zuko was stepping into a, what looked like, a miniature makeshift hot spring, which he assumed the fire bender's had been discreetly heating themselves. The water tribe boy knelt down beside the edge of the pool, dipping his finger in to test the temperature. He retracted his finger almost immediately, hissing in pain and attempting to blow cool air onto his throbbing finger.  
"Fucking hell." He cursed. 

  
Zuko snorted. "Sorry, probably should have warned you it's hot." 

  
"Yeah no shit." Zuko frowned. "It's fine. I'm just more of an ice bath with the penguins kind of guy." 

  
Then sokka heard a sound. A sound his ears had grown particularly sensitive to over the years. Giggling, he could hear girls giggling. His eyes scanned the small garden. Bingo, Sokka counted three earth kingdom girls peering over the scrap metal fence seperating one slum house from the other. He rolled his eyes. 

  
"Zuko." He began. "It's probably not wise to be so uh, exposed, out in the open." 

  
Zuko submerged himself entirely in the water, then quickly resurfaced, slicking his hair back and rubbing his eyes. "Why?" He inquired. "Is it a problem?" 

  
Sokka blushed. "Oh, uh. No, it's not that. It's just that other people might see you, you know, naked." 

  
Zuko still looked confused. "I don't understand why that's a problem for you." 

  
"You're currently being checked out by a bunch of girls sneaking peeks at you from over the fence and you're saying you don't understand?" Sokka lowered his voice. 

  
"Tonnes of people have seen me naked, Sokka. I had servants personally wash and dress me until I was 13." 

Sokka groaned. "Okay, that's even weirder. You're weird. Fire nation is made up of a whole bunch of weirdos." 

Zuko laughed. "And jerkbenders?" 

"Yes, you're all a bunch of weird jerk benders- that prance around naked."

"I personally don't think it's that weird. I shared a bath with my entire family." 

  
Sokka gagged, he was struggling to deal with the concept of Zuko naked, let alone thinking about the entirety of the fire nation, particularly the fire lord. "Great, now I have the worst image of your dad in my head, so thanks." 

  
The giggling grew louder. Sokka found himself becoming increasingly irritated. He grit his teeth. They were pointing, gasping and covering their mouths, making unnecessary explicit comments regarding the fire bender, who was innocently and happily washing himself and relaxing into the comfort of the hot water. 

  
"I'll give them something to look at." Sokka warned, gripping Zuko's wet shoulders and twisting the fire bender's body around so he could crash their lips together. Sokka's tongue forced it's way past Zuko's lips and circled around Zuko's own, causing the fire bender to moan into the water tribe boy's mouth. Sokka pulled back, a trail of saliva connecting the two. 

  
"Never pictured you as the jealous type." Zuko commented. Sokka blushed, protesting the other boys remark.

  
"I am not jealous!" Sokka argued, lifting a soap covered Zuko out of the water, gripping the fire bender's wrist and dragging him back into the small earth kingdom apartment with a groan.

  
"Sokka." Zuko practically nearly hummed his name. "You're so cute." He cooed.

\--------

It was sundown. Zuko had Sokka by the wrist and was dragging him through the earth kingdom slums alleyways. Sokka was hesitant, wary of where Zuko was leading the pair of them but Zuko was determined. It was getting dark, Sokka knew the area would be patrolled by Dai Li agents. So what did Zuko have in mind? 

  
"Would you just hold on a sec-"

  
"I think it's just around the corner." Zuko responded, still dragging the water tribe boy behind him. Zuko stopped, letting go of the other boys wrist and turning to look at him. Sokka's eyes widened, Zuko was smiling. "It's still here." He said as if confirming his worries. 

  
Sokka was about to ask Zuko where they were when flickering lights caught his attention. Sokka turned away from the fire bender's gaze to find a fountain decorated with an array of candles and lanterns of different height, shapes and sizes. Sokka's attention traveled back to Zuko, who interwined their fingers together and took in the scenery around them. Zuko's eyes were glistening, and Sokka could see the reflection of small flames within them. 

  
"Pretty, isn't it?" Zuko commented.

  
"Yeah." Sokka admitted, half not knowing if he was talking about the lanterns, or Zuko. The sun was setting, the candles became brighter and several fireflies began buzzing around them. Not that Sokka was paying much attention to their surrounding now, his gaze was fixated on the fire bender, and watching how the light of the candles flames complemented his skin. 

  
"A girl here showed it to me." Zuko explained, squeezing Sokka's hand. "I really like it here." Then Zuko's head was leaning against Sokka's shoulder with a contented sigh, Sokka's cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson when Zuko turned back to look at him, their eyes met. "Not all fire brings destruction. Stuff like this reminds me of that." Zuko admitted. 

  
"Yeah." Sokka said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's nice here." 

  
"I'm really happy I got the chance to show you it." There was a hint of sadness in Zuko's voice but he was smiling. Sokka frowned, how could one guy look so at peace but so sad at the same time? Zuko really was a mystery. Sokka wished he could have a peak into the future fire lords brain just for a minute. "I don't know what's to happen now, but I wanted to share this with you. So whatever happens, you'll remember this side of me."

  
"Zuko..."

  
"If there comes a day where you resent me-" Sokka gripped the fire bender by shoulders, shaking him.

  
"Hey, hold up. What are you talking about?" The panic in the water tribes voice was obvious to the both of them. Zuko placed his hands over the ones on his shoulders. 

  
"I just wanted you to have atleast one good memory of me. I don't want-"

  
"Zuko, Zuko. Slow down. I don't hate you, infact I've never hated you, you pissed me off, yes, but I don't hate you. I'm not going to hate you. Yes this is going to be extremely complicated but-" 

  
"I've tried to kill you multiple times. I could end up trying again." Zuko interrupted. Sokka shrugged his shoulders. He could hear the guilt in the others voice.

  
"That's my problem, and if it happens, I'll face it when the time comes." 

  
"We are so different, Sokka." 

  
"We don't have to be." 

  
Zuko's eyes widened as the water tribe boy crashed their lips together. Zuko trembled against Sokka's touch, but their lips moved against each other, fighting for dominance. Zuko eventually gave way, allowing Sokka to push his tongue past the fire bender's lips, who welcomed it with a moan against the water tribe boy's mouth. Sokka pulled away. Zuko half pouted at the loss of touch. Sokka pulled the firebenders body close against his own, wrapping his arms around Zuko's slender frame as if he were forming a protective barrier around the both of them.   
  
"It'll be dangerous." Zuko warned, nuzzling his face against Sokka's chest. 

  
"I know." Sokka mumbled into the firebenders hair. "I'll accept you regardless." 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post day of the black sun invasion.

When Katara had originally burst into a fury of rage and frustration about how she felt so stupid at slightly letting her guard down for Zuko, Sokka couldn't help but agree. Had he had known not even a day after kissing Zuko by the fountain he'd watch him put his sister in danger, he never would have let him get so close to the people he loved, to Aang, and to him. He felt naïve, confused and angry. He knew Zuko was bipolar at the best of times, but how does a guy go from confessing he likes you one day to attacking your sister the next? Maybe Sokka had got it all wrong, again. Maybe Zuko was really just the fire nations son and their sworn enemy. Whilst this seemed like the obvious truth, Sokka held the tiniest hope that it wasn't going to turn out this way in the end, something would happen, something, just anything. The invasion had failed. Sokka felt helpless and angry, but most of all he felt betrayed. As much as he hated to agree with the guy, Sokka thought maybe Jet was right, maybe all Zuko was good for...was destruction. He felt destroyed anyhow. And it made his entire body seethe with rage thinking about how Zuko was probably sat there in hiding throughout the entire invasion, by his father's side, watching and waiting for their plan to fail. He wouldn't be thinking about anything other than how the invasion was playing right into their hands. He wouldn't think about Sokka. He couldn't possibly be. All Zuko thought about was his stupid fire nation honour. He groaned in frustration, burying his face in his hands. 

He couldn't help but think back to what Zuko had said the night before the fall of Ba Sing Se, looking back on it now he wondered if Zuko had planned this all along. If Zuko's sob story to Katara was anything similar to what Sokka had heard from the fire bender regarding Jet and his past, letting her guard down was inevitable. It seemed Zuko had a knack for making others pity him, and this infuriated Sokka. He didn't want to think about him anymore. He needed to focus on their new invasion plan and finding Aang a fire bending teacher, as the Gaang leader, those were his priorities, so why was he this distracted and this defeated? 

He didn't like Zuko. The fire bender was just manipulative and played him like a puppet, it was the only explanation. Sokka didn't like Zuko. Not at all. Not one bit. That's why it didn't hurt like hell when he saw Zuko fighting by his crazy sister's side instead of his. 

That's why when Zuko approached the Gaang after Toph's warning, his hands raised defensively, Sokka was the first to lunge straight at him. Toph instinctively held him back, but everyone was on their guard, more so than they have ever been. Sokka and Katara were not about to let this happen again. Sokka pretty much drowned out Katara's shouting and accusations. He couldn't help but focus in on the fire bender before him. It'd been weeks, maybe months, Sokka had lost track, since they last saw each other. He was sure Zuko had grown taller, and lost alot of weight. His hair was longer, it rested on the boys eyelids in a disheveled, rebellious kid sort of manner and Sokka nearly cursed himself for smiling at it. Zuko opened his mouth to speak and Sokka's entire body froze up and stiffened. He had his sword drawn, but he couldn't move, he could do nothing but watch Zuko speak. 

"I've changed. I'm not the person I used to be!" Zuko cried out, which only seemed to infuriate Katara more as she completely drenched the fire bender head to toe, knocking him down on the ground with a painful sounding thud. 

"Leave! Now!" Katara bellowed. Sokka had to admit, his sister at times, particularly right now, was pretty terrifying. It appeared Zuko cut his losses and got the memo, because he scrambled up on his feet and ran off in the other direction. 

Sokka hated it. He hated watching Zuko walk away from him. He hated the feeling of being left behind. 

\-------

Sokka cursed at himself for doing this. Why was he doing this?! Zuko couldn't possibly be telling the truth. It was another one of his stupid plans to capture Aang. That's all Zuko cared about; the avatar and his honour. So why was Sokka sneaking out at night to find Zuko and hear him out? It was stupid and reckless. But Sokka needed answers. He just had to know...

Zuko was sat by the small campfire Sokka assumed he had lit himself. He was twiddling the flames beneath his fingers. The crunching of Sokka's feet against the twigs and brambles scattered across the ground must have startled him, because Zuko yelped and leapt to his feet, adopting a fighting stance. His body posture relaxed when his eyes met Sokka's.

"Oh. It's only you." 

Sokka folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes. What was that supposed to mean? Sokka arched an eyebrow, confused. But Zuko had let his guard down completely, he was smiling. 

"Sokka." He spoke, his voice calm and soft. Sokka could feel himself melting on the spot. "Sokka, I-" Then Zuko's gaze left his and fell to the floor, he hung his head in shame. 

"You've got alot of explaining to do." Sokka announced. Zuko nodded his head sheepishly. "I trusted you. Katara trusted you. And you turned your back when it suited you." Sokka began, his tone was harsh and abrupt, but he knew he needed to get his point across, and Zuko needed to listen. He needed to understand. "I'm so mad, I'm so mad at you, at myself, at everything!" Zuko said nothing but nodded once more, his shoulders slumped. Sokka carried on. "You nearly got all of us killed. You nearly got ME killed.." Sokka's voice cracked, and it became apparent to him that he was crying, although he wasn't quite sure when he had exactly started. But he couldn't stop. His hands gripped Zuko's shoulders and forced eye contact between the two boys. "I know you've always been hunting us, but this time it was different. This time it meant something. You made the decision to hurt me, despite everything!" Sokka yelled. Zuko's eyes shut tightly, unable to bare Sokka's gaze any longer. This drove Sokka mad.

"Hey! Jerk bender! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Zuko shook his head, his fists were balled at his sides. Sokka shook the fire benders slender frame roughly. Zuko's eyes opened once more. He was crying. 

"I'm sorry." He mouthed, unable to vocalise anything, Zuko did nothing but stand there and cry silently. One of his hands travelled up to rest on Sokka's own, Sokka smacked it away in anger. 

"You opened up to me. I thought you had changed!" Zuko cradled his stinging hand in the other. His hair fell across his face, Sokka saw this as a good thing, because seeing Zuko's stupid, pretty golden eyes glistening with tears was having the wrong effect it needed to be having on him right now. It confused the water tribe boy even more. 

"And now you're suddenly on our side? I just don't understand it! I just don't understand you." Sokka threw his arms up in the air in defeat with a frustrated groan. Zuko cleared his throat.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. And I can only but beg for your forgiveness." Zuko began. Sokka scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Betraying you and my uncle was the worst decision I have ever made." Sokka's eyes widened and his jaw practically hit the floor as he watched Zuko swallow all his pride and drop to his knees, bowing before the water tribe boy. "I was overwhelmed. I lost sight of what it was that I needed, not just what I thought I wanted. I thought for so long that I all needed was for my father to love me, and for my honour to be restored. But the most honourable thing I can do now is to make amends for what my nation has done, for what I've personally done." Zuko lifted his head up to look Sokka in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Sokka. For everything. I'm sorry." 

The look on Zuko's face had Sokka's heart practically erupting like some volcano out of his rib cage. He sighed, slapping his own palm against his face. 

"Get up. You look so stupid right now, stupid jerkbender." Sokka remarked, causing Zuko to laugh as he stood, brushing the dirt off his knees. Zuko was smiling. "Gosh, why you gotta smile like that? You're weird." Zuko laughed once more, walking towards the water tribe boy, who gulped nervously as the gap between the two became smaller. They were inches apart now. 

"Sokka.." Zuko began. His voice sounded sad, and was barely above a whisper. "I missed you, I missed you so much." The fire bender admitted, causing Sokka's entire face to turn as red as the makeshift tent Zuko had loosely propped up by the fire. Zuko's head slumped against Sokka's chest. Sokka could feel the fire bender exhaling deep against him. "Do you hate me?" The fire nation prince asked, the guilt evident in his tone.

"I don't hate you. I'm just confused and really mad at you right now." Sokka confessed. "And I just don't know if I can trust you." 

Zuko nodded against his chest. "I understand." His arms relaxed themselves around Sokka's waist, bringing the two closer together. Zuko sighed, some what content. "Aslong as you don't hate me, I can forgive myself, and in time, you and everyone can forgive me also. I need to heal, grow and learn from my mistakes. I can't do that without you." _Jeeeeez_. Sokka thought. Had this kid always been such a smooth talker? Well yeah, evidently, or things wouldn't have turned out this way. 

"My behaviour and the choices I made at Ba Sing Se.." Zuko began. "It had nothing to do with you. It was all me, me and my uh, messed up head, so uh, what I'm trying to say-"

"You're trying to say you were serious about me?" Sokka inquired. 

"Mmm." Zuko murmured in agreement. "I had a serious case of heart and head conflict. It was like having a devil and angel on my shoulders." 

"You really actually fell for me? Like for real?" 

"Yes, Sokka. I thought about you every day when I was back home. It drove me crazy. I just wanted to enjoy having my normal life back."

"Zuko, nothing about your life is normal." Zuko laughed. Sokka against every screaming feeling in his being not to, eventually wrapped his arms around the fire benders shoulders, returning his embrace. He could feel Zuko smiling against his chest. Sokka felt, strangely warm. "I missed you too. You really pissed me off, though. I'm still pissed off. You're such a dickhead." Sokka moaned. 

"I know. I really am sorry, Sokka." Zuko's arms squeezed Sokka's waist tightly. "I promise I won't let any of you down. Please trust me again." 


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm sorry." Zuko apologised once more, placing his hands on the water tribe boy's shoulders, pushing the two boys apart from their embrace. "I'm sorry I messed up. And I'm sorry I put everyone through what I did, to put you through what I did..." Zuko's eyes stared intensely into Sokka's, Sokka felt glued to the spot, Zuko's mouth parted to speak. But nothing came. Sokka took this an opportunity to say something.

"Zuko-"

"No. Let me finished." Zuko interrupted, his brows were furrowed and he looked deep in thought, as if he was trying so hard to make sure he picked the right words to say. The thought alone made Sokka feel all fuzzy inside. "I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out where it is I am supposed to be standing." 

"And where will you be standing in this war now, Zuko?" Sokka pried. Zuko closed his eyes and smiled.

"By your side. If you'll have me." Zuko admitted shamelessly. 

Sokka couldn't help but grab the fire benders face between his hands and crash their lips again. Zuko still tasted the same, and kissing him still felt the same, it had the same effect on him as being snuggled by a warm fire on Christmas day. Zuko's hands snaked around the water tribe boy's waist, pulling their bodies together. Their bodies connected perfectly, Sokka's hands threading through Zuko's ebony hair, tangling his fingers through the locks that had grown tremendously long during their time apart. Sokka liked Zuko's hair long, it made the fire bender look more carefree, it made Zuko look more like Zuko- his Zuko, the Zuko he knew. Zuko hummed against Sokka's own lips, which he had to admit were pretty dry from a lack of, well, kissing Zuko to be exact. Zuko's eyes fluttered open, he couldn't exactly remember when he had closed them in the first place, but Sokka was staring dead at him. He didn't blink. He didn't tremble. His lips just worked themselves over Zuko's in a sort of desperate frenzy- the kiss definitely felt desperate, but Sokka also looked calm and collected. He took every sight, every sound of Zuko in. The water tribe boy's eyes dilated, almost like a camera lense shuttering as it took a picture. With Zuko's body so close to his own, Sokka had realised how cold he'd felt without the fire bender beside him. He thought about how Zuko had probably spent nights warm relishing in palace luxuries whilst he slept sprawled out on the hard ground, cold. It visibly irritated him, his brows furrowed and he pulled away from Zuko's hungry lips. 

"Why didn't you come back sooner?" Sokka asked, clearing his throat so his voice wouldn't crack. Zuko could see right through his feeble attempt anyway, because he placed a soft kiss against the water bender's cheek. The sensation lingered probably far longer than it should have done for any normal person, but then again nothing about this was normal, Sokka knew that. 

"I wanted to. But I had to wait it out. I had to make sure-"

"That you were making the right choice?" Sokka interrupted. Zuko nodded.

"I had so much I needed to figure out. My uncle made a comment in Ba Sing Se about me being at the crossroads of my destiny. I'd brushed it off as his crazy old man talk. But he was right." Zuko sighed. "I really hurt uncle." Zuko looked into Sokka's eyes again. "I really hurt you, Sokka." 

Sokka could tell Zuko was being sincere in his remorse, he could feel it, he could see it in the fire benders eyes. They looked, surprisingly, lighter in colour, as Zuko wasn't staring constantly into darkness anymore. There was hope in his eyes now. Fear and hatred had been replaced with courage and determination. Zuko had always been strong willed, but this time it was different. Sokka could practically feel the fire benders new resolve radiating off of him. It was an aura Sokka could honestly get used to. 

"Will the others forgive me?" Zuko asked nervously, his gaze falling to the floor. 

"Toph's pretty level headed, and so is Aang. It's not them you'll have to convince." 

"Katara." 

Sokka nodded. "If you thought I was pissed..." 

Zuko grimaced. "I'll do whatever it takes." 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko is an awkward Virgin

"She'll come around..." Toph attempted to reassure the young firebender, but Zuko wasn't so sure. It'd been nearly two weeks since Zuko had joined the Gaang, and Katara had barely even acknowledged his presence. Stubbornness definitely ran in the family, Zuko thought, but it seemed Sokka was just that tad more on the forgiving side. "I know Aang has been trying to talk to her, make her see things from our perspective. You'll be fine." Toph leaned over to punch Zuko in the side, who, widened his eyes, but had soon come to realise it was Toph's odd way of showing affection, she was smiling her usual cheesey grin. Zuko rubbed his side awkwardly, the girl has strength in her.

"Thanks, Toph." He spoke, his eyes meeting Sokka's. Sokka was smiling, he patted his hand comfortingly on Zuko's thigh before squeezing it. Zuko flushed bright red, which made Toph burst into hysterics. He smacked Sokka's hand away quickly, who pouted in return. 

"I'm starvingggggg~" Toph announced, stretching her body out and sprawling herself on top of the two boy's laps. Zuko could have sworn he heard Katara mumble something about Toph letting her guard down and getting too comfortable from across their camp, but he actively chose to ignore it. He assumed Sokka had also heard it, because the water tribe boy awkwardly cleared his throat and began humming, rather loudly, as if to block out any of his sister's future comments. Aang came over to the three of them holding what he and Katara had prepared for dinner. Sokka pointed to Aang's hands, and audibly groaned.

"There's only two bowls." He pointed out. Toph quickly grabbed one out of the Avatar's hand before he could even respond to the water tribe boy. 

"Oh! Katara, we need another bowl! Zuko hasn't got one." Aang called out to the water bender, who's body stiffened in annoyance. Ladle in hand, she stomped over to the rest of the Gaang. She tipped the spoon empty into Zuko's unintentional open palm and stormed off. Sokka grimaced, Toph snorted. Sokka covered her mouth with his hand.

"Come on, it's funny, just a little bit funny-" Toph mumbled into the water tribes palm before licking it. Sokka gagged and retracted his hand away, fast.

"You're so gross!" He groaned, but Toph only stuck her tongue out. She sat up, seemingly having finished her meal, thanked Aang and jumped up to her feet. Aang rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. 

"I'm gonna make some tents and shit." Toph began, she pointed to the sky. Several dark grey clouds swarmed above them. Aang nodded and decided to join her. The pair of benders created three stone makeshift tents; one for Appa and Momo, one for Aang, Katara and Toph and one for Zuko and Sokka. Toph assisted Aang in getting Appa under the stone shelter, trying his best to reassure him that it wasn't a cave to convince the bison to stay in it. Toph stretched her arms behind her head and yawned. Aang followed suit, yawning straight after her. He called out to Katara, and the three settled down in the tent at the opposite side of the forest opening. Sokka assumed Toph and Aang had thought it was still in Zuko's best interests to be kept relatively far away from Katara, at least for now. Sokka offered Zuko half of his meal, but Zuko refused, eating the contents that had been placed in his hands. 

* * *

Zuko yelped as Sokka placed his bare freezing cold feet against the warmth of his own legs.

"You're so toasssttyyyy." Sokka cooed, snuggling into the firebender's back, who trembled in response and kicked his lover's feet off him.

"And you're freezing, get off me." 

"But it's raining and I'm cold." Sokka pouted, poking Zuko in the cheek playfully before wrapping his arms around his waist. "It's not fair. Share your warmth with me, you selfish fire bender." Zuko rolled his eyes, but eventually relaxed into Sokka's hold, who sighed with contentment and buried his face in Zuko's ebony hair.

"Stop wriggling so much. What are you, a worm?" Sokka responded by fidgeting more, earning him a groan from the pale boy. He laughed, and wriggled against the fire bender, gyrating his body. 

"Yes, I am just but a cold worm." 

"S-stop that." Zuko complained in his usual grumpy tone but his words appeared to stutter.

"But I'm a wormmmmm." Sokka continued fidgeting playfully and nuzzling himself against Zuko. He half expected Zuko to fully throw Sokka off himself in a dramatic manner that was only suitable for a prince, but Zuko's body responded instead, by shuddering and stiffening against Sokka's hold. Sokka frowned, assuming he'd actually made Zuko mad by not listening to him, he leant close to the fire benders face to apologize. Zuko didn't look mad however, in fact he looked mortified, and his face was bright red. 

"Zuko..." 

Zuko immediately buried his face in his hands, the idea of making eye contact with Sokka right now was unbearably embarrassing. Sokka's eyes widened. 

"Not a word." Zuko commanded, his voice muffled by his palms. Sokka's mouth hung open slightly, he wondered if he should actually say something, but figured it was probably best to wait for Zuko to speak. Zuko lay uncomfortably in Sokka's hold, he was angry, embarrassed and-

_Zuko was hard._

Sokka was wondering if he should try to reassure the other male, it didn't work too well the first time, but Sokka figured two times the charm.

"What are you getting embarrassed about?" Sokka inquired, earning him a kick in the shin and a grumbled noise of annoyance.

"Hey.." Sokka began, his voice soft in an attempt to calm the other male. "I told you before, it's okay. It's normal." He hovered over Zuko, prying his hands away off the pale boy's face. Zuko squeezed his eyes shut. "Zuko, look at me." Zuko shook his head slowly. Sokka assumed in Zuko's mindset, he was probably thinking that if he didn't have to look at the problem he wouldn't have to face it. Not that Sokka would have considered something like this to be a problem, like he explained to Zuko, it was normal, it was to be expected of two, hormonal and frustrated boys within such a close proximity of each other. "Zuko." Sokka pleaded once more. Zuko listened this time, golden eyes openly slowly to meet deep blue ones. "We can't keep avoiding this." Sokka explained, Zuko's eyes narrowed. "We're attracted to each other, so-"

"So what are you going to do about this? Take responsibility? Sokka, please don't try to convince me you have any idea of what to do." 

Zuko, as harsh as he sounded, was right. Sokka had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation, and realised that's why Zuko had been so hesitant to avoid addressing it. They were attracted to each other, yes, they wanted each other, definitely- so what now?

"You make me react this way. But I don't understand it. I want you, but I don't know what it is that I want you to do, or how we-" 

"You want to have sex, Zuko."

"Y-yeah." Zuko confessed, turning his head to the side to avoid Sokka's gaze. "But I don't know how." Sokka sighed, hooking his arms under Zuko's shoulders and bringing the fire bender to sit up in his lap. 

"You were honest about wanting it." Sokka began, his voice soft and soothing against Zuko's ear. It made the entirety of Zuko's body shiver in a way he'd never experienced before. "Surely that's a step in the right direction, hey?" Zuko swallowed, Sokka laughed softly against his skin. 

"I want you too." He began. "But a fire nation prince has never been my specialty so-"

"So?" Zuko questioned.

"So, forgive me if I'm a slow learner." 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut warning!!!

Zuko exhaled a shaky breath and nodded, as if he was giving Sokka permission to experiment as he so pleased. The water tribe boy hovered over the fire bender, who lay there, body stiff and face crimson from embarrassment. Sokka, himself, started to feel a tad nervous, maybe it was because Zuko was so nervous that it was rubbing off on him. Sokka had never been anything but overconfident when it came to sexual encounters, but he supposed that's because they were all with women, and with Zuko, who was a guy, it was bound to be different. He watched Zuko's chest rise and fall, his mouth was parted, he could tell Zuko was trying to calm his nerves as he was breathing, quite loudly and heavily, through his mouth. Sokka brought his hand up to caress the firebender's cheek, who flinched at first, but relaxed eventually into the affectionate gesture. His hand travelled down to Zuko's neck, fingers tickling against soft porcelain skin, Zuko hummed in response. One tanned finger trailed down Zuko's chest, grimacing slightly as he felt petruding bones- Zuko definitely had lost alot of weight, and not in a good way. Sokka's other hand joined the one tracing circles on Zuko's chest, he lay his palms flat against the fabric of Zuko's shirt. Sokka was definitely beginning to feel nervous now, especially with Zuko looking up at him so expectantly, his eyes dilated with anticipation. Those eyes would be the death of him some day. 

He tried to reassure himself that sex was just sex, regardless of gender, but with Zuko being ill-experienced and looking up at Sokka like he was expecting the world, Sokka began to feel the pressure. He wanted Zuko to feel good, that's what sex is supposed to be about, but Sokka had no experience with men, other than the fire nation prince and his right hand, if that even counted. Sure he'd seen Aang and Haru naked on multiple occasions, but it's not as if he'd ever studied them in detail and thought about it that way, he shuddered. Zuko's eyes widened.

"Sokka, is everything okay?" 

Sokka huffed, he did not need to feel so patronised, he knew that's not what Zuko meant, but he couldn't help himself from interpreting it that way. 

"Yup. Just thinking about the best way to blow your mind." 

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I thought I was supposed to be the nervous one here."

Sokka pouted. "I am not nervous. I want to do this." His hands gripped at the fabric of Zuko's shirt and tugged it upwards, exposing Zuko's toned, pale abdomen. Zuko hissed quietly as the cold air hit his skin. He lifted the piece of clothing up higher, until he had a full view of Zuko's scared chest. He could definitely see how hard Zuko was breathing now, and his chest was flushed, Sokka remembered this happening to a few of the girls he'd slept with, and took this as indication to do as he'd always do. Zuko's face was bright red, melting under the water tribe boys intense gaze as he studied his body. Although several people had seen Zuko naked before, nobody had ever stared at him like this, looked up and down at him like he was some sort of prize. Sokka exhaled deeply this time. His hands travelled down to caress at Zuko's sides, Zuko's hands lay awkwardly, arms stiff, it made Sokka chuckle slightly.

"Relax." Sokka cooed in a way that made Zuko melt even more. Zuko scoffed.

"I am relaxed. Stop staring at me like an old pervert. I'm getting bored." 

Sokka's hands quickly moved up to grip at Zuko's chest, his fingers ghosted over a small, pink nipple, that stood upright, evidently to Zuko's arousal. Zuko's body began to tremble, Sokka, who was curious to see if Zuko would react in the same way as his previous partners, took the small bud of flesh between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed, hard. Zuko's body arched almost entirely off the ground and he let out a sound that was practically feral. Sokka relished in it. Zuko propped himself up on his elbows, looking the water tribe boy in the eye. 

"What...I...what did you just do?" Zuko was practically panting, one hand gripped against Sokka's shoulder, his untrimmed nails scraping against his skin. Sokka grimaced at the unpleasant feeling, but repeated his previous action, twisting the flesh harder between his fingers this time. Zuko's head snapped back, his lower half thrusting upwards. Sokka's eyes travelled down to the lower half of Zuko's body. His cock was straining against his trousers, and were slightly damp as a result of his obvious arousal. Sokka's eyes widened, he didn't expect Zuko to be so sensitive, if anything, more sensitive than anyone he'd ever been with. Despite being nervous and still not entirely sure of what to do, Sokka found his other hand quickly and awkwardly fumbling to pull the firebender's cock out of his clothing. Sokka never thought he'd have this thought in his life but Zuko's cock looked cute, it twitched in his hand and the pale complexion of it looked so good against Sokka's tanned skin. Sokka looked into Zuko's eyes and gave his cock and experimental squeeze. Sokka wished someone could have prepared him for the most erotic sound he'd ever heard in his life as Zuko moaned and bucked into the water tribe boy's hand, his hand gripping tighter onto Sokka's shoulder as the other slapped itself over his own mouth, evidently embarrassed by the noise that just escaped him. Sokka shook his head.

"I want to hear you." He spoke, his voice soft and encouraging. Zuko reluctant dropped his hand to rest on Sokka's other shoulder, steadying himself. Sokka's hand, still cupping Zuko's cock, began to move slowly, pumping Zuko's cock the same way he would his own. Despite his initial insecurities, Sokka was obviously doing the right thing because Zuko was gripping Sokka tightly and thrusting his hips back and forward in time with Sokka's hand. Sokka's other hand began to tease at Zuko's nipple again, twisting and tugging the flesh in a way that had Zuko whimpering and squirming against his touch. Zuko began to feel strange, his head began to feel dizzy, heavy and everything was blurring around him.

"Sokka, Sokka." He gasped, unable to say much more or explain the strange sensation he was feeling, it wasn't bad or unpleasant, it was just different and completely overwhelming. His stomach felt like it was full of butterflies and his chest felt like it could burst. He gripped on to Sokka desperately as if his life depended on it. "Sokka." Zuko repeated, slightly more breathless this time. Sokka only responded with a groan, enjoying the way his name sounded as it was followed by Zuko's shameless panting, he moved his hand faster, leaning forward to press his lips up against Zuko's neck, who practically nearly screamed when Sokka bit down on him.

"Sokka, I can't, something's happening, I don't know-"

Sokka shushed him, his tongue running along the goosebump decorated skin of the fire benders neck. "It's okay, I've got you. Just let go." 

Sokka seemed to understand what Zuko was feeling without him having to say much, as in a few brief moments Zuko was crying out a mixture of profanities and Sokka's name as he spilled into Sokka's hand, orgasming for the first time in his life. Sokka release Zuko's abused nipple and placed his hand comfortingly on Zuko's cheek, before reaching up to kiss him. He pulled back, looking into the firebender's eyes with nothing but hopeless adoration.

"Zuko." He cooed. "You're adorable." 


	15. Chapter 15

Zuko's erratic breathing eventually slowed as the fire bender calmed down, releasing the strong hold he had on the water tribe boy. He looked up at Sokka, he could make out a faint blush under the others tanner skin. Sokka's eyes were wide, dark and staring at him intently. Zuko's gaze then fell upon the unpleasant mess that coated the pair of them, grimacing slightly but enough for Sokka to notice. Sokka cleared his throat awkwardly.

"We should, uh, clean you up." 

Zuko frowned, eyes darting from Sokka's, down to the water tribe boy's own lower half. He shook his head sheepishly. 

"You too." He mumbled, embarrassed and so quiet that if the two weren't so close together, Sokka would have missed it entirely. Sokka's eyes widened, confused, unsure of what the fire bender meant at first, until Zuko was sitting up and his hands travelling down to rest at the tanned boy's waist. "You too." He repeated, eyes examining Sokka's lower half intently. Sokka went bright red. 

"Oh!" He exclaimed, feeling slightly stupid that it took him so long to get what Zuko was hinting at, then he felt slightly guilty that Zuko thought he needed to return the favour. Zuko's hands travelled lower, Sokka stopped them. Zuko looked up at him and pouted, confused by the other males rejection of him. "No, it's fine!" Sokka reassured the other. "You don't have to do anything. Don't worry about it. I'm fine, let's get some rest!" Zuko looked puzzled, but Sokka felt anxious. His mind went back to the night Zuko went to confront Jet, he grimaced at the thought. 

"You don't want me to?" Zuko sounded almost sad, offended. Sokka sat back on his heels and shook his head. "Because I'm a guy?" 

"No!" Sokka exclaimed, probably a little too loud because it seemed to startle the fire bender. "That's not it, i-" 

"Then what? You'll think I'll be bad at it?" The fire bender half snapped, definitely irritated at Sokka's quick rejection of him, and his emotions getting the better of him. Zuko was definitely an overthinker. Sokka realised he should keep this is mind. He shook his head, reaching forward to take Zuko's hand in his own. 

"I just don't want you to feel like you have to. With everything that happened with Jet, I just-" 

Zuko silenced the water tribe boy by sitting up, leaning forward and quickly kissing him desperately. He pulled back, smiling, almost giggling at the image of the flustered water tribe boy before him.

"It's okay." Zuko reassured him. "I want this. I want you." Sokka sighed against the fire benders lips, half contented and half defeated. He felt Zuko's long fingers intertwine with his own. Zuko pulled back slightly, rubbing his nose against Sokka's affectionately. "We were apart so long, Sokka."

"I know." Sokka agreed. _Far too long_. 

"So please..." Zuko sighed, his forehead resting against Sokka's own. "I want to touch you." Sokka felt like he may aswell have been blasted in the face by the other males bending; his cheeks burned so bad and he could tell Zuko was in a similar position as he could feel the heat rising off of him and the hot, shaky breaths that followed after his blunt declaration. The fire bender must have been battling against every inch of his pride to let those words escape him. Sokka was sure of it, because the grip around his hand tightened, and the fire bender squeezed his eyes shut out of embarrassment. He brought his free hand up to cradle the pale boy's cheek, and Zuko relaxed into the familiar affectionate gesture the two often shared. Zuko's eyes fluttered openly slowly, and upon meeting Sokka's gaze, the water tribe boy nodded sheepishly. 

Zuko's free hand was on Sokka almost instantly, it travelled down Sokka's chest and abdomen, his fingers ghosting over the forming muscles from vigorous warrior training, then they travelled lower, stopping at the end of Sokka's hip. Sokka bit his lip in anticipation. Zuko took the hand resting gently on his cheek and placed it on his own shoulder. Sokka became fidgety, the confines of his sleepwear becoming more uncomfortable by the second. He exhaled a long breath as Zuko started to peel the item of clothing off of him, Sokka lifted his hips slightly to help maneuver them down his thighs. He hissed, similarly to how Zuko did, when the cold air made contact with his now exposed lower half. He untangled his fingers from Zuko, placing his hand on the ground beside him to steady himself in anticipation for Zuko's next move. He was not, however, prepared for the fire bender to lower his head, lick the tip of Sokka's cock and look up at him with bright, golden eyes asking: "like this?" before attempting to fit the entirety of Sokka's half hard cock in his mouth. Sokka practically choked, his hand gripping the fire bender's shoulder roughly, not sure if he should be pushing Zuko down or pushing him away. But Zuko was sucking down eagerly, ill experienced of course, but enthusiastically. Sokka could feel himself hardening in the fire bender's mouth, and evidently Zuko did too, because he looked up at Sokka with shocked, wide eyes- gagging. Zuko pulled himself off of Sokka for a brief moment. Sokka relaxed his hold on the other make's shoulder. 

"You okay?" Sokka asked, concerned.

Zuko nodded. "It's big." He said bluntly, causing Sokka to choke on his own breath in embarrassment. Sure, he'd heard similar comments previously, but hearing it come from Zuko was having a different, more noticeable effect on him. He was hard, fully hard. Zuko smirked slightly before leaning his head back down again, he swiped his tongue painfully slowly against the head of Sokka's cock, causing the water tribe boy to involuntarily thrust up into Zuko's mouth, who moaned against his cock in response. Zuko went bright red, shocked at his own innate reaction. Sokka took his free hand and threaded his fingers through the dark strands of Zuko's hair, with this new hold on him, Sokka began to lift Zuko's mouth on and off his cock at a pace that suited him. Zuko groaned against Sokka's hold, not out of defiance, but of pleasure. He looked up at Sokka, his eyes glistening, practically sparkling. He moved his tongue desperately around the member in his mouth, trying his upmost best to make his lover feel good, despite his obvious lack of experience. His enthusiasm to please however, seemed to be having an overwhelming effect on the water tribe boy above, as his began panting the fire benders name over and over. 

"Zuko...Zuko." Sokka groaned, pulling himself in and out of Zuko's mouth at a quickening pace. Sokka could tell he was getting close, he in all honesty didn't expect himself to last even this long, but going through the sheer months without sexual contact and only just jacking himself off, he knew he wasn't going to take long to cum. Zuko was still moving his tongue around him, his eyes beginning to water. 

"Zuko, I'm getting close, I'm gonna pull out, okay-" 

Zuko gripped Sokka's thighs roughly, shaking his head against Sokka's hold. 

"Sokka." He spoke around the water tribe boy's cock, his voice croaky and lust filled. Sokka cursed under his breath, gripping either side of Zuko's head with his hands he thrusted erratically into the other's mouth, his thighs trembled and tightened as he felt himself spill into Zuko's mouth, who continued to lap at Sokka eagerly, and in turn, swallowing Sokka's orgasm entirely. Sokka panted, releasing his grip on Zuko, who released himself off of Sokka's twitching cock, sat up and wiped his chin with the back of his hand. 

"You didn't have to..." Sokka said breathlessly. Zuko flung his arms around Sokka's neck, climbing into his lap. Sokka's arms wrapped around Zuko's waist, bringing the two boys closer. Zuko sighed, Sokka chuckled at his somewhat new found confidence. 

"When did you get so bold?" Sokka asked, rubbing comforting circles along Zuko's lower back. Zuko yawned, relaxing into Sokka's touch. 

"I guess I wanted it for so long, I just couldn't hold back." 

Sokka smiled. "Me too. You're amazing." 

Zuko scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Sorry if I sucked, well like, obviously I did but you know what I-"

"Zuko." Sokka interrupted him, his voice filled with adoration, a feeling he knew he was never going to get tired of. "You're perfect."

"You're cheesy. You can tell me if I was bad." Zuko wriggled, Sokka took the hint and laid the pair of them back down on the ground, draping a blanket over the pair of them, Sokka sighed contently as Zuko snuggled into his chest. Sokka also could never get tired of how warm Zuko felt against him, it was comforting, homely, and just made him feel better. With Zuko lay there against his chest, Sokka could pretty much forget anything else going on around them, he could but only focus on Zuko's warmth, the rise and fall of his chest, and how his heart beat thudded against him. Sokka was completely and undeniably infatuated. 

"I wouldn't have finished in barely three minutes if you were bad." 

Zuko snorted. "That was just because you were deprived." 

"No.." Sokka admitted, to both Zuko and himself. "It's because it was you." 


	16. Chapter 16

Over the next few days, the boys found themselves incapable of keeping their hands off of one another. Every touch they shared, even what would be deemed platonic or casual, had the other feeling as if they were overcome with want for the other. They practically couldn't wait to excuse themselves to bed at night. Hands would be all over each other, removing clothes at a ridiculous lightning speed and discarding them somewhere on the ground to be found later. Sokka had a flustered Zuko sprawled out beneath him, face flushed, hair disheveled, eyes that pretty much begged him to do as he so pleased. Their bodies would be pressed up against each other, legs tangled in a hot mess, bodies grinding down and up against each other. Sokka would lean down, his hot breath tickling against Zuko's ear, who would only grip onto the water tribe boy's shoulders, biting his lip and whining, waiting for Sokka to speak in that low voice that was only reserved for him-

_"Tell me what you want."_

Zuko's eyes were pretty much watering, overcome with both pleasure and embarrassment as Sokka ground his lower half down onto the fire bender, who gripped the boy on top of him desperately. Sokka ran his tongue along Zuko's throat, panting and grunting just below his ear; Zuko squirmed underneath him, his toes curling against the gravel. Sokka fisted his hands in the firebenders dark hair, tugging it slightly to see the reaction he'd get from the pale boy beneath him. Zuko's body shuddered; Sokka could feel Zuko's cock twitch against his own. He tugged on the fire benders hair again, grinding down harder this time, slightly taken aback when Zuko arched his back off the harsh ground and whined. Zuko's hips started moving on their own, rocking back and forth to meet Sokka's own movements, who lifted himself up slightly on his elbows; allowing him to take in the perfect sight before him: Zuko's eyes squeezed shut, his face a deep red, his mouth parted and panting as drool trickled it's way down the firebender's chin. It was practically art. 

"Zuko." The water tribe boy spoke, his voice unashamedly filled with lust. The fire bender's eyes fluttered open to meet Sokka's blue ones. "You're so beautiful like this, Zuko." 

* * *

Toph had been ignoring Sokka all day, which was unlike her; she'd usually be found clinging to his side for comfort. She refused to make eye contact, and everytime Sokka approached her, she'd hide behind Katara or make up an excuse about having to be elsewhere, which made little sense, as it was just the 5 of them and neither of them had to be anywhere as of right now. Katara caught onto this unusual behaviour aswell, and kept an extra close eye on the blind earthbender for the rest of the day. 

Later that day, Zuko approached her, which she wasn't expecting- startled, she fell backwards, her hands breaking the impact of the fall. Toph always knew when someone or something was coming towards her; something was definitely not right. Rushing to her aid and reaching his hand forward, out to Toph so she could pull herself back on her feet, Zuko looked concerned.

"Are you okay?!"

Toph's eyes widened, looking up at Zuko, turning bright red, before scuttling backwards away from the fire bender on her hands and feet, kicking dust in Zuko's direction. Zuko withdrew his hand, confused, watching Toph crawl towards Aang and Katara at an alarming speed. Sokka approached him, placing his hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"You too, huh?" Sokka asked, Zuko hummed in response, evidently confused at Toph's out of character aversion to the pair of them. Katara seemed the most alarmed at this change in behaviour, storming over towards the two boys, she jabbed Zuko in the chest with her finger.

"Did you hurt her again!?" Blue eyes darting between her brother and the fire bender, she demanded answers. 

"No!" Zuko defended himself, raising his voice slightly, irritated by Katara's audacity. 

"Then why is she acting like this?" Katara pointed back to a crouched Toph, who sat at Aang's feet, chin resting against her knees with her face buried in her calloused hands.

"I don't know!" 

"You obviously did something!' Katara accused the pair of them, poking her brother equally as hard. "She's been acting like this since this morning!" 

"And your go to is to accuse me?" Zuko snapped back, smacking Katara's hand away from Sokka's chest. Her eyes widened and she scoffed, retracting her hand. "What is your problem?"

"If anyone here knows how to hurt Toph, I think that would be you-"

"Katara enough!" Sokka argued back, arms quickly moving to restrain a visibly agitated Zuko, who scowled in the direction of his lover's sister, balling his hands into fists by his sister. "That was an accident." Sokka reminded both of them, he felt Zuko needed reminding of it more so, he knew how bad the firebender felt about the situation. He tended to Toph for weeks to apologize. Katara sighed and apologized, avoiding Zuko's direct gaze, but nonetheless an apology was given. Sokka cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

"I don't know what's going on." Katara admitted, the concern for Toph evident in her tone of voice. "I thought she would feel comfortable talking to me about it, but she just keeps getting embarrassed everytime I ask if she's okay." Katara sighed, looking up at Zuko, then to her brother. "She seemed close to the pair of you, so I thought she would open up to you guys." 

"She seems to be avoiding Sokka aswell today." Zuko commented, Katara nodded. 

"I wonder if..." Katara began. Both Sokka and Zuko's eyes widened, confused at what Katara was begining to ponder. Katara swiftly walked over to the earth bender, sitting beside her. The pair couldn't quite make out what she had said, but it had to have been something typically, well, Katara, as Toph went noticeably red, stomping her feet before jumping back onto them. Katara grabbed the smaller girls arm in protest. 

"Toph, please. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's normal to get crushes at your ag-"

"I do NOT have a crush on anybody." The small girl bellowed, detesting whatever accusations Katara had slipped into their brief conversation. 

"It's totally normal for you to, we are both surrounded by boys-"

"No, Katara. I just don't want to have to hear your brother having sex." Toph snapped, although instantly regretting it as she looked at the water bender in complete horror. Katara's jaw quickly fell to the floor. She looked at Toph, then to Sokka, then back to Toph, who looked like she was growing more mortified by the second. She pointed at Sokka in disbelief before storming back over to him. Her head snapped towards Zuko, then back to her brother. 

"You were having sex with random girls whilst sharing a tent with Zuko? Sokka that's...that is just-" 

Toph practically choked on a noise that sounded like half laughter and half disgust. Sokka blinked several times, as if to check that this was actually happening and he wasn't in some bizarre cactus juice induced dream, he raised his hands defensively, shaking his head. 

"No..no... Katara, that's not it-" 

Quick to respond, she turned back to Zuko. 

"So you knew about this?!" 

Zuko and Toph's faces were practically of the same colour. Aang cleared his throat uncomfortably, evidently trying to diffuse the situation.

"C'mon guys... let's just talk about something else before we all end up feeling uncomfortable." Aang looked at Zuko, then to Sokka and back to Toph. 

"Toph is uncomfortable!" Katara stated. "Sokka, I expected better of you!" 

"I'm telling you, that's not what-" 

Katara, evidently flustered at the context of the conversation, turned on her heel, walking away from her brother. The two boys shared panicked glances. Zuko swallowed, his throat became incredibly dry. Sokka scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I guess we forgot to take into account that Toph feels vibrations, huh?" 

"You have about a 5 second head start to run. I'm burning you to a crisp." 


End file.
